Waves

I’ve not put anywhere near as much time as I’d have liked into Rob ‘Squid in a Box’ Hale’s graceful-but-frantic twin-stick shooter Waves, which has built up quite a following in recent weeks – as well as snagging the coveted RPS ‘best use of the Unreal engine’ award at Indievisibility the other week. I did, however, discover the other day that it runs rather well on my laptop’s integrated Intel graphics thinger, so I expect to spend a fair bit of time shooting shapes while hiding in the bathroom from my girlfriend’s extended family over Christmas. (That’s ‘shooting shapes’, not ‘shooting up’, heroin fans).

It’s just had a healthy free update, adding a sixth mode known as Chase, known variously as ‘the hardest mode yet’ and ‘the speed metal of shmups’, so masochistic nutters will be delighted. (more…)

New Content• New "Chase" Game mode added• 28 New Steam AchievementsBugfixes• Fixed the highscore display showing scores that are below your current highscore either locally or amongst your friends list.

Challenge:Potential fix for challenges not completing. If this still happens please post in the forums.

UI:Fixed Tutorial Messages not clipping correctly at resolutions other than 1280x720Page Up and Page Down on the Leaderboards screen works correctly when filtered by Player ScoreAim Line doesn't appear until Player is allowed to moveAim Line no longer appears when not shooting and using a control padAdded option to choose a Random announcer voice at the start of each gameFixed a typo in the Challenge descriptionFixed Friend Leaderboard result sorting sometimes clipping the results incorrectlyAdded HUD SettingsAdded HUD Opacity SettingAdded HUD Aim LIne ToggleAdded HUD Player Ring Opacity SettingAdded extra resolutions to Video settings

Music:Will no longer play two music tracks if you abandon a game immediately after starting it

Rush:Fixed restarting in Rush bringing up a game over screen

Achievements:Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented a player getting the Kill 1000 achievement - This should correct itself after you finish a game and reward the achievement if you should have it already

I don't know if it's the bite-sized gameplay, the escalating challenge, the flashing lights, or the pulsing soundtrack from electronica artist Smiletron, but Waves is the most addictive little twin-stick shooter I've played since Geometry Wars.

Created by Robert Hale of Squid in a Box Ltd. and now available on Steam for a mere $8.49, Waves is a simple and stylish twin-stick shooter that has been devouring my life two minutes at a time since its release.

The gameplay is relatively simple. You navigate a pulsing hexagonal field as waves of enemies spawn and converge on your circular ship, possibly upset over your lack of defined points. As you battle you gain levels, increasing the score multiplier and generating increasingly frantic batches of enemies. Generate a big enough combo and you'll earn a bomb, good for wiping out large chunks of evil angles all at once. As you kill enemies you'll also fill up your slow motion gauge. Kicking things into slow motion depletes this gauge, but gives you double points for every kill made.

The key to scoring big is managing your bombs and slow motion. Generate a bomb, make sure your slo-mo gauge is filled, and let loose, racking up ridiculous amounts of points in no time flat.

Wave's game modes make it the perfect title for a quick round of play between posts. Crunch Time in particular is lovely, giving you two minutes to drive up the multiplier and make a name for yourself on the leaderboards. Rush gives you two minutes to play but extends the timer with each level up (I've made it over five minutes!); Survival is self-explanatory; and Bombing Run takes away your guns and turns the game into an explosive round of tag.

And then there's the soundtrack, an eclectic selection of tracks from electronic music artist Smiletron that will have your heart racing and your desk shaking. Head to his website now and download every free track he's release. Then rub them all over yourself.

After spending the past few weeks playing expansive epics like Skyrim and the Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Waves is just what I needed to wind down. Hit up Steam and give the free demo a try right now.

Waves is Now Available on Steam and 15% off until November 23rd 10AM PST.

Shooter fans deserve more. And those who havent discovered the pleasure of twin stick destruction deserve an entry point. Introducing Waves, a twin stick shooter that can be played by anyone, but with a high enough skill threshold to keep even the most hardened shooter fan entertained.

Waves has been built from the ground up to be accessible, yet require mountains of skill to master. It cuts away the fluff and boils everything down to whats really important: Highscores.